Calorie restriction and intense exercise cause weight gain - help
I hope somebody can help me out with this, so I can stop beating my head against the wall. I am 5'6 125 lbs and according to the calipers at the gym around 11-12% body fat. I think all the fat is stored in my lower half as my upper body tends to look emaciated. I have pretty muscular legs, which I am very self conscious of. Instead of being thankful that they allow me to participate in these awesome athletic endeavors, I just always wish they were smaller, so I could fit into cute designer jeans. But that is a discussion for a therapist, not EN.
Here is my first problem. Whenever I try to count calories and lose weight my body goes into freak out mode and I end up gaining weight. I am not trying to drastically cut calories, just enough to lose 1/2 pound a week. I have been calorie conscious for years and I am pretty healthy and strict about what I eat. I have been using Loseit the last few weeks and religiously tracking my calories. Even for someone who is pretty aware of what I eat, it is always surprising to see how much you really eat when you track it. I have restricted my calories, so that I can lose 1/2 pound a week, which I can tell is significantly less than what I normally eat. Since I have been using Lose it, the scale hasn't budged and if anything, I have gained a pound or two. This is not the first time I have done such an experiment and I get the same results every time. If I get crazy and don't worry about my weight or go on vacation and eat out a lot, I always LOSE weight. The more I restrict what I eat, the more I gain weight. Does anyone else have this problem and if so, have you been able to resolve it? I just want to lose a couple pounds and I am not sure what to do.
My second question is does anyone gain weight after an especially tough workout. I always gain several pounds after a tough workout. I don't really care what the scale says because I know I didn't just eat 3-4 pounds of calories. But it does bother me, in that my pants are always tighter, which as I mentioned, makes me crazy. After a really tough workout, I know I should be feeling really good about myself, but instead it just makes me feel badly because my clothes don't fit quite right. It is almost like my legs swell. Again, does anybody else have this problem?
Thanks for the input
Keri
Comments
I hope others smarter than me will chime in here but here is my 2 cents
This may be complete opposite of what you think but you may be eating to few calories and then when you restrict even more you body say Whoa I need to hold onto what I have. Have you ever had your metabolism checked to see how many calories you are burning? I know this was a problem with my wife and it was a killer for her to eat more and lose weight.
On the second issue, I know there was talk about this before on here but I believe you body holds onto fluid to help repair damage done during your workouts. I could be mistaken on what I read here but I am sure someone else will correct me if I am wrong.
I haven't had my metabolism checked and the thought that I am not eating enough has crossed my mind, but it has been too scary to try. Where does one get their metabolism checked? Is it a sports training facility or a doctor? It would be good to put this issue to rest.
Thank you so much for your response and your yummy recipes.
Oh yeah, happens all the time. I hate it. NEVER can lose weight when I'm training long. Weird, I know, and I have never been able to figure it out.
After intense workouts I always gain a few a bit from inflammatoin and water retention, used for repair. It eventually disappears, but always makes it difficult for weight recording and management purposes. I always weigh on Mon and Fri mornings, pre- and post-long/hard workouts, basically.
Why are you trying to lose weight? 11-12% body fat is in the elite athlete range, what makes you think you have to lose more?
@Jennifer and Coach the reasons why are very simple (or complicated). I want my legs to be smaller. Everything else is really lean and this is the last place to work on. So I figure, if I lose weight, the only place for it to be lost is in my legs. It really isn't about a number on the scale, I just want my body to be more proportioned. My husband says that changing my legs is like trying to change my nose. It is what it is. But I just keep thinking, I haven't found the right combination of exercise and calories. Ugh, I sound so vain.
I know that if I didn't exercise so much, I would be much smaller. However, I genuinely love getting out there everyday and trying to see how fast or how long I can go. So there is my internal struggle. It is good to hear that others have similar experiences. It is helpful in setting a realistic goal.
I go through everything you mention. Same struggles, same thigh issues, same everything. Your husband and my husband could go to a support group for crazy wives who want thinner thighs
I get swollen legs after 20 mile runs and I gain weight after big bike days. I did find something that works. When I switched to only fruits/vegetables/lean meat and nuts as my food choices I LOSE weight. Totally suck as it means no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereal etc. BUT it works and I still have tons of energy. I can't add calories due to workouts on top of my BMR like others do or I would be a whale. I can eat only a little more than my BMR. Maybe 200 extra calories per hour of biking or running. So on a 5 hour bike day I might only eat 1000 calories more than a non training day. Get what I am saying?
I have to say though that your weight and body fat are very low. You are tall also. I am so sorry you struggle with this. Keep enjoying getting fast. Eat healthy with Fat at each meal in nuts/avocado/flax oil/olive oil etc. Use low glycemic carbs. NO DIET foods. NO DIET soda. Eat real food. Eat like an athlete.
I hope that helps,
Carrie
@Jennifer - Owning it sounds like the way to go. I like that mantra.
Seriously, thank you for your input. I don't know many people who exercise as much as I do, and it is so comforting to know that there are others that have similar struggles.
Like Carrie and Jennifer mentioned, it might be the mix of calories that you are taking down. Penny tends to see her weight decrease when she increases the protein and cuts back on the cabs. My body comp reacts the the reverse more carbs, but less fat helps me lean out.
As far as leaning out your legs, if you are not carrying the bulk of your fat there, then the only way to "lean them out" is to lose muscle mass. Chances are that you have muscular legs and that when you train you are going to put on more muscle.
We saw pics of that Mardi Gras dress...she is pretty cute
It sucks. And the fact that guys lose weight during hard training, but women don't, just sends me over the edge! Not fair! (Okay, temper tantrum over now!)
Hang in there, and take care.
@ for WIW, I wish I could come down to TX for an eval. by Penny. I might p.m. her for info. about that!
@Keri - I don't have advice on losing the fat, or getting smaller legs, but I did want to chime in on the body perception thing. I have HUGEly muscular legs. It has always been that way. In a picture of the basketball team in high school all the other little girls had legs half the size of mine! Although I do carry more fat than I'd like, even if I were super-lean I'd still have monster legs. I have always too felt self conscious about them, and felt they were not attractive. I'm at peace with it, mostly, because it's just who I am. Lately though my perception of them has started to shift and a couple tid-bits have helped. One was an interview I saw of Chrissie Wellington. She complained that her calves were too big! So, #1, were are in some mighty fine company of girls with big legs. Secondly I was talking with one of my tri buddies and he was remarking about how I've gotten leaner and about the muscularity of my legs. I complained a bit about how much muscle I have, but remarked, "at least they are good for doing triathlons." He commented, "Don't kid yourself, they are good for more than that! (wink)" So, among the right crowd I think there are many men who find legs like ours attractive.
So, I will be focusing on getting to a good bf% for optimal race performance, without worrying that I have "too much muscle." Any as I strut my way to the podium I will be confident that at least a few guys in the crowd will be giving my legs a glance of appreciative awe. I may not fit into designer jeans, but I look good in spandex!
Hi Keri,
I haven't read all of the replies in detail, but here are my thoughts:
1) What does your family look like? If you look like them, there is very little chance you can change that. Your genes made you do it.
2) Don't trust the calipers. They are only as good as the person doing it. If they haven't done a TON of it, don't trust it. And, if your body fat was that low there would be a lot of other problems including loss of your period (unless you are on birth control) which means that you could have skeletal issues because your body needs the estrogen to build bone.
3) Do you put weight on your legs first? If so, that is probably the last place you'll lose it.
4) You may need to play with the macronutrient content vs. calories. As John said, I have to increase protein a bit and really reduce starches to lose weight.
5) Are you sure nothing else is up? I was having a very, very hard time losing weight and a lot of fatigue. Turns out I'm hypothyroid. If you think this may be the problem, get to an endocronologist who works with athletes.
6) As someone else said, you may be reatining water after hard workouts. Inflammation (which happens when you have had a hard workout and the muscles are adapting) causes additional fluid/water to be drawn into the tissue. It should resolve after a couple of days.
7) Get your RMR measured if you can. You can google "resting metabolic rate measurement" and your city. That may also help you figure out what is going on.
I am shorter than you and weigh more than you. I have very muscular legs and butt. Honestly, the 2005 Nike "Thunder Thighs" and "Big Butt" ads helped me come to terms with my body shape. If I start doing a lot of cycling, my legs bulk. My family (both sides) are pear shaped. I'm finally accepting that this is how my body is going to look. I can be miserable about it, or I can be glad I have strong legs and a big, round butt that let me do so much and be happy. I'm learning to choose to be happy.
Obviously you've hit a nerve with us ENers. When I read your post this is exactly the same stuff I've gone through. Usually, I can only lose weight when I am NOT doing any sort of distance training. My body stubbornly clings to a certain wegith when distance training, and I could tell you exactly what this weight will be year after year. (My weight, unfortunately makes me a little pudge though.) I have tried the Ultra-Simple diet and lost weight, basically eating the same types of stuff (nuts, avocados, beans, etc.) that some mentioned above, but as a vegetarian and when training I find this diet too hard to follow without carbs (bread, potatoes, etc.). After talking with others about post long ride/run weight gain, I have accepted it and know in a few days I the weight comes off again, and make sure my more forgiving pants are ready for work the next day.
Overall, maybe it is my age or my supportive family who think I am the bomb for doing triathlons, but I have ceased caring about whether I look like a skinny Chrissie Wellington in my finishing photos. I may not be the prettiest, fastest, or skinniest, but if I am out there being fit and having fun then I win!
@Keri: Last year during OS I focused on changing my body comp and religiously tracked calories in/out and breakdown of fat/protein/carbs through FitDay as I wanted to drop 5 lbs (I am 5'5"). I used the Omron HBF-500 Body Composition Monitor with scale to track my weight, body fat, BMI, Visceral Fat, Skeletal Muscle and Resting Metabolism. Although not nearly as accurate as other methods on the market, it gave me a baseline measure to track my weekly progress. My trainer and I had weekly weigh-ins and she did all measurements at week 1 and week 8. Well I was disappointed at the end of the 8 weeks that I lost only 0.6 pounds, however, I was shocked at having lost 17 inches.
I find that in order to see the results I had last year I MUST carefully count calories in/out and my breakdown of fat/protein/carbs to keep myself honest and aware of what and how much I am eating. It is possible to see changes in body comp but I find it difficult to constantly be counting & logging everything.
Heather
Calorie switching
• Results happened quickly in my first few weeks - this is normal with a lot of this being water weight loss. After these first weeks I could feel my metabolism slowing down. Got back up on the Net and did some research and confirmed that the slow down in metabolism is a direct response to the body not getting enough calories on a steady daily basis. The body thinks it will starve, so it slows down the metabolism in an attempt to survive longer. Calorie switching attempts to minimize this by keeping the body guessing as to what level and type of calories it will be receiving, this non steady state incoming level keeps the body confused and it does not radically drop the metabolism, that’s the theory. So I varied my calorie intake from 500 to 2000 a day and changed up the mix of carbs, protein and fat ratios every so often. This seemed to help keep the metabolism from being in that eyes glazed over coma state. Plus this also gave me the metal carrot of Friday night - IF the week was on track and went well - then OK time for a 2000 calorie day and a nice out to dinner with a beer or 2 reward !! I rationalized that I was keeping the body guessing with the high intake day .
Matt
Wow! Big thanks to everyone for posting. We could probably start another forum for women coming to terms with their thighs.
I am new to triathlons and new to EN and I was really self conscious/embarrassed to post my post, but I am so glad I did. Last spring I was training for Grandma's Marathon and was running 60 miles a week. I had a baby a few months before and was still trying to lose some of the baby weight. I couldn't lose the weight to save my life and eventually my body couldn't recover from the hard miles and calorie restriction. Hence, I had a TERRIBLE race. The minute the race was over and my training scaled back, I lost the weight. I was in a pretty good place and then after Christmas I really started training again and I could tell my jeans were getting tighter again. I didn't want to go through what I went through last spring, so I posted my question.
The technical information is very helpful and I will try to put it to use. It also gives me so much comfort to know that I am not "failing" at losing weight. I have admired IM triathletes since I was a little girl and to hear all the women out there having similar experiences to me, gives me an enormous peace of mind. If all these impressive women are OK with their thighs then I am going to focus on my accomplishments and not worry about my race pictures.
Once again, thank you for all the information and candid responses. This alone makes joining EN worth it.
Keri
I have a similar predicament to you. If I don't eat, my body seems to go against me by becoming 'flabbier' and I get heavier. With work I can't always consume enough and sometimes think I'm consuming too much however I find my workouts suffer and it's a wake up call that I'm not feeding my body. I always weigh more after a workout from fluid intake I guess. I've tried counting calories and gave up but I think I may need to start to as I can see how much I need to take on board. I used the Livestrong app. I think it helps. You're not alone!
PS I also have hugely muscular legs. I have never ever gotten into skinny jeans. They get stuck at my knees.
PPS I have stood next to Chrissie - she is TINY. And just PURE muscle. Nothing else, just muscle.
Big thighs usually means big bootie. Desiree Ficker comes to mind. Serena Williams. Dayum. What's not to like?
Powerfully built, athletic women are sexy. Skinny is overrated. My 2 cents. Go with it.
And what Carrie Chavez said- fruits. veggies and protien. Simple carbs, especially from the sugars found in our wko stuff are waaay too prescribed. And peeling an orange or grapefruit while riding is good bike handling practice.